LOS ANGELES  — Jon Rahm returned to No. 1 in the world on Sunday by winning the Genesis Invitational with a performance that left no doubt who’s playing the best golf.

Caught in a battle with hometown favorite Max Homa at Riviera, Rahm delivered two big moments with a 45-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 14th and then a tee shot to 2 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th.

He closed with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot win over Homa.

“Pretty incredible,” Rahm said. “(To win) at a golf course with this legacy, this history and hosted by Tiger Woods, is such an honor.”

Patrick Cantlay got within one shot on the back nine until two bogeys. He had a 67 to finish alone in third, moving him to No. 4 in the world.

Woods had four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch and shot 73 to tie for 45th.

“Unfortunately, my streak continues,” Woods said with a smile, alluding to his 12 appearances at Riviera as a pro without ever winning.

His success was measured in progress. It was his first time playing 72 holes since the Masters last April — Woods only played twice more since then as he tries to cope with leg and back injuries that will make PGA Tour appearances rare. He did not know if he would play again before the Masters.

Woods still had the largest gallery all the way to the end, thousands of fans packed on the hill over the 18th green to watch him close out with a par in that familiar red shirt under a black vest.

And then the spectators turned their attention to a terrific duel between Rahm and Homa, each with two victories on the PGA Tour this season.

Rahm now has five wins in his last nine starts worldwide, dating to his win in the Spanish Open. He has not finished out of the top 10 in his last 10 tournaments.

It was his third win in five starts on the PGA Tour this year, and he already has earned more than $9 million the last two months.

This wasn’t as easy as it looked at the end.

“That was a tough week and a tough Sunday,” Rahm said.

Homa, who won at Riviera two years ago, began the final round three shots back. He quickly closed to within one shot, only for the Spaniard to come within inches of holing out from the fairway at No. 8 for a tap-in birdie, while Homa made bogey from behind the green to slip three shot behind again.

And then it changed quickly.

After Homa birdied the ninth from 15 feet, he drove to the far edge of the 10th green and got down in two for a birdie. Rahm went well left. His pitch was short and rolled down the back of the green, behind a bunker. He pitched onto — and then over — the green into another bunker, and he had to make a 6-footer for bogey.

Two holes later, Homa took the lead for the first time when Rahm three-putted for bogey, only for Homa to give it back with a bogey from a bad tee shot.

The par 3s won it for Rahm, with his putter and a full swing. He finished at 17-under 267 and earned $3.6 million from the $20 million purse, the second straight elevated event on the PGA Tour.

Rahm now has won just over $9.4 million in the last two months on the PGA Tour — wins at Kapalua and the California desert and on the classic course of Riviera off fabled Sunset Boulevard. He finished third in Phoenix and tied for seventh at Torrey Pines in his other two starts this year.

This is the fifth time Rahm has been No. 1 in the world, and the way he’s playing, it looks as if he might stay there for some time.

Rory McIlroy, who began the year at No. 1 and won his first event of the year in Dubai on the European tour, was not a factor for the second straight week. McIlroy had a 73-71 weekend and tied for 29th.

THIRD ROUND

LOS ANGELES — Jon Rahm kept mistakes off his card Saturday at Riviera, the difference in allowing him to post a 6-under 65 and start to pull away from the field at The Genesis Invitational.

Tiger Woods lost ground, too, even if he looked good doing it. Woods had a tap-in eagle on his way to a 67, his lowest Saturday round in an official event since he won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan in the fall of 2019. Even so, he was 12 shots back.

Rahm capped off his bogey-free day with a 25-foot birdie putt that gave him a three-shot lead over Max Homa, who had a share of the lead until consecutive bogeys from the bunker along the back nine. He had a 69.

Keith Mitchell made his only bogey on the final hole and had a 69 to fall four behind. The only other player within five shots was Patrick Cantlay (68).

Rahm has been the best player in golf over the last six months. Dating to the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour, he has finished among the top 10 in nine consecutive tournaments, winning four of them.

All that’s left is a return to No. 1 in the world, and he can do that with a victory Sunday.

For Woods, it felt like a win just being back on the PGA TOUR for four straight rounds, something he hasn’t done since the Masters. Then again, he only played three times last year because of his right leg severely damaged in a February 2021 car crash.

He made the cut on the number when the second round was completed Saturday morning, 11 shots off the lead and starting on the back nine in one of the last few groups. That didn’t keep thousands of fans lining the fairway over the next five hours.

Woods made a few birdies on the back nine, and then hit 5-iron onto the front of the green at the par-5 first hole, the ball rolling across the firm turf and a few inches next to the cup before settling 3 feet away for an eagle.

His only bogey came at the seventh. It was encouraging nonetheless because Woods says he’s still sore walking after his rounds. He only made it to the weekend twice in the three tournaments he played last year, posting rounds of 78 at Augusta National and 79 in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

“I wanted to get in touch with the leaders today, I was hoping to shoot something a little bit lower than I did just so I could reach out to them hopefully with a low round tomorrow,” Woods said. “I might be a little far away.”

That leader is Rahm, and it’s daunting regardless of the margin.

Rahm was in a terrific battle with Homa, the Southern California native who won at Riviera two years ago. Rahm took the lead by finishing the front nine with consecutive bogeys, only for Homa to catch with a pitch to tap-in range on the 10th and catch him again with a bold play left of the left pin on the 13th.

But it was Homa who blinked first.

He found the fairway bunker on the 15th, the toughest hole at Riviera, came up short of the green and missed a tough 10-footer for par. He pulled his tee shot on the par-3 16th into a bunker and again missed a 10-foot putt for par.

Rahm motored along, making a 12-foot par putt on the 13th and chipping nicely when he did miss the greens to eliminate the stress. He ended with a birdie to reach 15-under 198, one extra shot to work with on Sunday.

Also in range is the oldest 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour — 20-under 264 by Lanny Wadkins in 1985. All that matters to Rahm is another victory that would give him the ranking that his game embodies at the moment.

SECOND ROUND

LOS ANGELES — Max Homa in the lead at his hometown PGA Tour event used to give him chills. Now he’s playing so well it almost feels normal.

Homa, a winner last month down the coast at Torrey Pines, ran off three birdies around the turn at Riviera and tossed in a few big par saves Friday for a 3-under 68, giving him a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm, Keith Mitchell and Lee Hodges at the Genesis Invitational.

Tiger Woods will be part of the weekend, even with a sloppy finish and more attention over a juvenile prank than a putter that went cold. Woods finished with three bogeys over his last four holes for a 74.

He was at 1-over 143, leaving him 11 shots behind Homa, but certain to make the cut when the second round is completed Saturday morning. For the second straight day, darkness kept the round from finishing.

Woods, playing elite competition for the first time since the British Open last summer, apologized if anyone was offended by him jokingly slipping a tampon into the hand of Justin Thomas on Thursday after Woods outdrove him by about 10 yards.

“It was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it hasn’t turned out that way,” Woods said.

Homa and Rahm had their own brand of fun on a crisp afternoon off Sunset Boulevard.

Homa hit wedge to 4 feet to a pin tucked behind the bunker for a birdie on No. 9, holed a 15-foot birdie on the 10th and then chipped beautifully to a back right pin for a third straight birdie on the par-5 11th.

He also saved par from a plugged lie in the bunker and made an 18-foot par putt on the 16th. His round ended with trouble off the tee that led to bogey, but he had no complaints at 11-under 131 and his name atop the leaderboard.

He already has won twice this season, including last month down the coast at Torrey Pines. When he won this tournament two years ago — the one he used to attend as a kid who grew up 30 miles away — he said, “I don’t know if I could ever do anything cooler in golf than this.”

Playing good every week is pretty cool.

“I kind of feel like I should be doing this when I’m playing well, and I am playing well,” Homa said. “Yeah, it’s exciting — 36-hole leads are awesome. Like I said, there’s a long way to go, but regardless, I can rest on the fact I’m playing great golf and I’m just going to try and do that for two more days.”

Rahm is playing even better. He has nine consecutive top 10s dating to September, four of those victories, and he is close to returning to No. 1 in the world.

Even the best need a break every now and then, and Rahm got a big one Friday evening. He went with a 5-wood from 270 yards on the par-5 17th and cooked it, sailing the green toward the back grandstands. The ball smacked off the base of the bleachers, tumbled along the edge of a bunker and settled just over 3 feet away for an eagle.

That capped off a stretch of playing five holes in 5-under par that put the Spaniard right into the mix going into the weekend.

“Obviously, I got very fortunate to get that bounce not only to go on the green, but to have basically 3 feet straight up the hill,” Rahm said. “That’s arguably the best bounce I’ve seen in person my whole golf career and it would be hard to beat in the future.”

He’s seen plenty of great bounces before on various video compilations, and he started reciting some of the bizarre ones, many on the European tour. He’s just never the star of those shows, and so maybe he’ll be in the next video.

“I hope it’s in it,” he said. “If anything beats that, I’d be surprised.”

Mitchell played in the morning, making five birdies to offset a few mistakes. He was in contention two weeks ago at Pebble Beach.

Collin Morikawa (68) was two shots behind, with Patrick Cantlay (67) another shot back. Both grew up some 20 miles from Riviera.

Rory McIlroy had a 69 and was four back.

The stars are out in Los Angeles, part of that due to Riviera, part of that due to the strongest field of the year competing for a $20 million purse.

Woods felt his 74 was as high as it could have been because of his putting, but at least he’s around for the weekend. So his Xander Schauffele, who looked certain to miss the cut until his shot from 173 yards flew straight into the cup on the 17th for an eagle. He made it on the number.

FIRST ROUND

LOS ANGELES — The scene was similar to the last time Tiger Woods played against the world’s best. Fans packed onto every balcony on every level of the Riviera clubhouse Thursday, all of them straining for a rare sight of golf’s biggest star.

Woods had them cheering even louder at the end.

He put on a show in his first competition in seven months, closing with three straight birdies and one big smile for a 2-under 69 in The Genesis Invitational, leaving him five shots behind Max Homa and Keith Mitchell.

Woods went bunker-to-fairway-to-bunker on the 10th hole and had to make an 8-footer to save bogey. He was wild off the tee for another bogey on the 12th, leaving him over par on a mild, breezy afternoon.

And then he looked like the Woods of old at the end — a tee shot to 5 feet on the par-3 16th, another birdie from 25 feet on the par-5 17th and then a big drive — a few yards longer than Rory McIlroy — on the 18th that set up 9-iron to 7 feet.

“I was able to fight back and get it going,” Woods said. “It was a nice finish.”

His legs held up fine, though still sore. The final task was making it up those 52 steps toward the clubhouse to sign his card. The next step is a quick turnaround. Woods finished about 5 p.m. local time, and faced a 7:24 a.m. start to the second round.

Homa played in the morning and also finished with three straight birdies for a 64. Mitchell played in the afternoon and birdied the last two holes to join him.

Jon Rahm opened with a 65 as he bids to return to No. 1 in the world. Matt Kuchar opened with a 30 on the front nine and settled for a 66, along with two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and Harris English.

Hardly anyone was watching them. That was to be expected with Woods playing. He has commanded all the attention for the last 25 years, and now Tiger sightings are rare because of legs that have been battered by knee surgeries (left) and a car crash (right).

There also was that matter of rust, which went beyond his golf. He hasn’t heard this kind of noise since last summer at St. Andrews.

“I haven’t played in a tournament in long time,” Woods said. “I didn’t look up as much. I was trying to calm myself down all day, figure out what I’m doing out here. … I probably should have appreciated the fans more than I did, but there was so much going on in my head.”

The group certainly helped. For the third time in his last four appearances at Riviera, Woods played alongside Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, two of his closest friends in golf. They all birdied the 18th, McIlroy for a 67, Thomas for a 68.

It was a treat for the thousands that followed them along.

The space behind the first tee at Riviera was so crammed that Seamus Power had to squeeze his way through fans to get to the putting green. Fans began chanting Woods’ name when he arrived. The applause when he was announced wasn’t quite as loud, mainly because so many people were holding phones high above their heads to get a picture.

And it stayed that way throughout the afternoon. There was a large rush of fans going down the eighth fairway as Woods was approaching the seventh green. No, this wasn’t the seventh inning of a Dodgers game in a bid to beat traffic. They were moving ahead trying to find a spot to see.

Woods opened with a good pitch to 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 first, the easiest hole at Riviera, and he followed with two more pars before missing the green and then a par putt from 10 feet on the long par-3 fourth.

As for his legs, there was a noticeable limp as he descended a steep cart path from the first tee.

It looked as though his round might fall apart on the 10th — a drive into the bunker some 50 yards short of the green, blasting out weakly short of the green, and then a pitch that ran past the flag and trickled into the back bunker.

He did well to make bogey, and that set up the big surge at the end.

Homa won at Riviera two years ago and called it the coolest thing he had ever done in golf, and for good reason. He grew up about 30 miles away and used to attend this tournament as a fan. He also won when his beloved Dodgers and Lakers were world champions. Oh, and Woods is the tournament host and presented him the trophy.

Victories are not routine for Homa, but he is getting used to them. He already has won twice this season, most recently three weeks ago down the coast at Torrey Pines.

He began his round on the 10th, regarded as the best short par 4 in the U.S., and went long off the green, hit a flop shot into the back bunker and then holed out for birdie.

The finish was even better, a prelude to what Woods delivered at the end of the day.